The Communist Party of China Central Committee elected Xi as general secretary for a further five-year term, Xinhua reported, pivoting the country decisively back to one-man rule after decades of power-sharing between its elite.
His anointing in a closed-door vote on Sunday came after a week-long rally of party loyalists in Beijing in which they endorsed Xi’s ‘central position’ in the leadership and endorsed a sweeping reshuffle that has saw former rivals resign.
On Sunday, Xi marched at the head of the group at the event to introduce the CPC’s seven-member Standing Committee, a post reserved for the party’s general secretary.
He is now almost certain to serve a third term as China’s president, to be officially announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
The 20th Congress ended on Saturday after the election of the new Central Committee of about 200 senior party officials, who gathered on Sunday to elect the Standing Committee – the pinnacle of Chinese political power that Xi is firmly seated at. Mountain peak.
Since becoming the country’s leader a decade ago, Xi has achieved a concentration of power like no modern Chinese leader other than Mao.
He abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, clearing the way for him to rule indefinitely.
Xi also oversaw China’s rise as the world’s second-largest economy, a huge military expansion and a much more aggressive global posture that drew strong opposition from the United States.
Despite nearly unchecked power, Xi will face enormous challenges over the next five years, including managing the country’s indebted economy and growing rivalry with the United States.
CONTEMPORARY CHINA
Sunday’s vote caps a triumphant week in which China’s top brass hailed their leadership of the country over the past five years.
In his opening speech to his 20th Congress last Sunday, Xi hailed the party’s achievements while glossing over domestic issues such as the slowing economy and the damage inflicted by its harsh zero COVID policy.
Heavy on ideological rhetoric and light on politics, a defiant Xi also urged party members to prepare for many challenges, including a hardening geopolitical climate.
Analysts were watching closely whether the party charter would be amended to enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” as its guiding philosophy, a move that would put Xi on an equal footing with Mao.
This did not happen, although a resolution called the creed “the Marxism of contemporary China and the 21st century”, adding that it “embodies the best of the Chinese culture and ethos of that time. “.
HU LED FAR
In an unexpected move that interrupted proceedings at the closing ceremony of the Congress on Saturday, former leader Hu Jintao was led out of the room.
The frail 79-year-old seemed reluctant to leave the front row where he sat next to Xi.
State media reported late Saturday that Hu insisted on attending the session despite feeling unwell.
“When he did not feel well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue to rest. Now he is much better,” Xinhua said on Twitter, a social media platform that is blocked in China.